England's Lewis Hamilton grabbed pole position at the Formula One Japanese Grand Prix after winning the qualifying session for McLaren-Mercedes in Fuji Speedway on Saturday.

 

Spain's Fernando Alonso, the reigning world champion, made it a one-two with Hamilton for McLaren-Mercedes to finish second fastest in qualifying and will sit slightly behind his teammate.

 

Kimi Raikkonen of Finland, the winner of the 14th leg in Belgium for his fourth victory of the season, took third position, followed by fellow Ferrari driver Felipe Massa of Brazil in fourth.

 

Going into Sunday's race, championship-leading British rookie Hamilton, on 97 points with three wins, holds a two-point lead over Alonso, with Raikkonen in third on 84 points and Massa in fourth on 77 points.

 

Ralf Schumacher of Germany, driving on his Toyota's home ground here, crashed against Japanese Spyker driver Sakon Yamamoto at the end of the first qualifying session to quit the following sessions.

 

(Xinhua News Agency September 29, 2007)